Sheet glass manufacture



May 1, 1934. N. FRANZEN SHEET GLASS MANUFACTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledOct.

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May l, 1934. N. FRANZEN SHEET GLASS MANUFACTURE Filed OC'b. 20, 1932 3Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR- j j7 ATT N. S2 u.

May l 1934 N. FRANzEN 1,956,860

SHEET GLASS MANUFACTURE I Filed 0G11. 20. 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 PatentedMay l, 1934 UNI? STATES PATENT GFFE SHEET GLASS MANUFACTURE ApplicationOctober 20, 1932, Serial No. 638,697

9 Claims.

This invention pertains to the manufacture of sheet glass and theprimary object of the invention is to disclose an improved method andapparatus for producing intermittent sheets while maintaining acontinuous flow of molten metal from the furnace.

Further and other objects and advantages will be apparent from thespecication and claims, and from the accompanying drawings which i1-lustrate what is now considered the preferred embodiment of theinvention.

Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic view of one form of the apparatus.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail View of a portion of the apparatus, withthe ladle in dumping position.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged View on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic View of a modified form of the apparatus formaking reinforced Wire sheets.

In the drawings 10 is the furnace containing molten metal 12. Anextension of the furnace 14 is provided with one or more openings 16through the bottom thereof. A plug 18 is adapted to close each openingat the will of the operator. As illustrated, two circular orices 16 areprovided, but the number and shape of the openings may be variedaccording to circumstances.

Below the oriices is a semi-cylindrical ladle 20, preferably lined withrefractory material 22, and supported for partial rotation on trunnions24 in bearings 26. Gears 28 on the ends of the trunnions are actuatedperiodically by racks 36 to tip the ladle at regular intervals of timein order to dump metal from the ladle, as shown in Fig. 2, to form a gob31 above the forming pass between rolls 32 and 34. Each gob containsenough metal to form a sheet 36 of the desired dimensions. It will beobserved that the ladle and tilting device are so arranged that the flowof metal into the ladle is uninterrupted even while the dumpingoperation is occuring. Briefly, the ladle serves to divide the flowingmolten metal into substantially equal batches, and to deliver thosebatches to the forming pass. After the sheet is formed it passes overapron 38 and rolls 40 to the lear.

A refractory arch 42 may be provided to prevent loss of heat from themetal in the ladle and while the metal is enroute from furnace to ladle,and, if desired, additional heat may be supplied within the arch byburners 44.

In the process of making wire glass the apparatus is modified as in Fig.4 by providing additional orices 46 with suitable plugs 48. Metal (Cl.Llil-32) flows through openings 46 to a second ladle 50 similar instructure and operation to the apparatus already described, the ladlebeing so located as to dump its metal between rolls 32 and 52. Inoperation, ladle 20 supplies metal to be formed by rolls 32-34 into alower half-sheet, while ladle 50 supplies metal to be formed into theupper half-sheet between rolls 32-52, these latter rolls also serving toweld the two half-sheets together with the wire mesh between them. Thewire 54 is supplied from reel 56 and is guided to position by ngers 56in well known manner.

In the claims of this application, for the sake of clarity, the metalflowing through the oriiices 16 is considered to be a single stream,while the metal from orices 46 is considered as another stream.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the speciiicembodiment herein illustrated and described, but may be used in otherWays without departure from its spirit as defined by the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. In the manufacture of sheet glass, means for maintaining two streamsof molten metal, in combination with means operable periodically fordividing each of said streams into batches, two sheet forming passes,means for delivering batches from one of said streams to one of saidpasses, means for delivering batches from the other of said streams tothe other of said passes, and means for combining the sheets formed bythe two passes into single sheets.

2. In the manufacture of sheet glass, means for maintaining two streamsof molten metal, in combination with means operable periodically fordividing each of said streams into batches, two sheet forming passes,means for delivering batches from one of said streams to one of saidpasses, means for delivering batches from the other of said streams tothe other of said passes, and means for conducting the sheet formed inone pass into the other pass, said other pass being effective to combinethe metal of said other batch with the metal of said sheet to form asheet in said second pass, whereby said sheet contains metal from bothsaid batches.

3. In the manufacture of sheet glass, means for maintaining two streamsof molten metal, in

combination with means operable periodically for dividing each of saidstreams into batches, two sheet forming passes, means for deliveringbatches from one of said streams to one of said passes, means fordelivering batches from the other of said streams to the other oi saidpasses, and

means for conducting the comparatively thin sheet formed in one passinto the other pass, said other pass being effective to add metal fromthe other batch to form a comparatively thick sheet containing metalfrom both said batches.

4. In the manufacture of sheet glass, means for maintaining two streamsof molten metal, in combination with means operable periodically fordividing each of said streams into batches, and means for forming saidbatches of metal into glass sheets so that the lower half of each sheetcomprises a batch of metal from one stream and the upper half of eachsheet comprises a batch of metal from the other stream.

5. The invention set forth in claim 4 in which means is provided forintroducing reinforcing wire between said half sheets while they arebeing combined into a single sheet.

6. The invention set forth in claim 4 in which means is provided forlaying reinforcing wire on the lower half sheet before it is covered bythe upper half sheet, whereby said wire is embedded in the finishedsheet.

7. In the manufacture of sheet glass, in combination, a refractory archhaving a vertical opening through the crown thereof, means formaintaining a stream of molten metal downwardly through said opening, aladle in the path of said stream, and means effective while said streamis flowing into said ladle for tilting said ladle to pour metaltherefrom.

8. The invention set forth in claim '7 in which heat is supplied undersaid arch substantially as described.

9. In the manufacture of sheet glass, in combination, a refractory archhaving a vertical opening through the crown thereof, means formaintaining a stream of molten metal downwardly through said opening, aladle in the path of said stream, a sheet-forming pass, and meanseffective while said stream is flowing into said ladle for tilting saidladle to supply metal therefrom to said forming pass.

NICKLAS FRANZEN.

